Sunday, March 30, 2008

Merlin and Giles of Rome

An amusing quote from Aegidius Romanus, which I came across in Pini's article on the Quodlibets of the same, in the Schabel volume p. 249 n.81:

Quodl. I, q.1, Utrum angeli cognoscant futura contingentia. Giles reformulates this question in general terms, i.e. whether angels know contingent future events, but he recollects that the question was posed specifically concerning the knowledge that demons gave to Merlin the Magician. "Et inducebatur haec quaestio propter angelos malos et propter Merlinum. Dicitur enim de Merlino quod ille natus fuerit per auxilium daemonis, ut per artem succuborum et incuborum, et quia ille Merlinus dixit multa contingentia futura quae a multis creditur diabolus eum docuisse, et quia non potuit eum docere nisi ea quae sciret, erat quaestio utrum angelus malus vel diabolus cognoscat futura contingentia.

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